System and method for releasing sessions at network entities associated with the sessions

ABSTRACT

A system, apparatus and method for releasing sessions via network entities associated with the session, where the network entities include at least session endpoints and intermediary network entities. Network entities are subscribed to intermediary network entities serving as notifiers. Upon releasing the communication session at a first notifier, a session release notification is initiated from the first notifier to its respective subscriber. The session release notification is logically advanced towards a remote one of the session endpoints via the intermediary network entities. The communication session is terminated at each of the network entities receiving the session release notification.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates in general to network communications, and moreparticularly to a system, method and apparatus for facilitatingnetwork-based releasing of sessions and clearing of communicationsession states.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Communications between networked devices can be effected in a variety ofways. Users can communicate with one another via voice connections;users can browse content on other systems or devices; messages can besent using services such as Short Messaging Service (SMS) or MultimediaMessaging Service (MMS); messages may be e-mailed; and so forth. Somecommunications, such as SMS/MMS messaging and e-mail, may not involvereal-time communication between the end users. Other communicationsinvolve an actual or logical connection between the communicatingparties. A “session” generally refers to a logical connection betweencomputers or other devices and the communications exchanged betweenthose devices while they are connected. A multimedia session involves aset of multimedia senders and receivers and the data streams flowingtherebetween.

Network architectures exist that facilitate real-time services inoperator networks. For example, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project(3GPP) IP Multimedia core network Subsystem (IMS) is an architecture forsupporting multimedia services via a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)infrastructure. The IMS includes a set of SIP proxies, servers, andregistrars. These entities, referred to as Call Session Control Function(CSCF), include Proxy CSCFs (P-CSCF) and Serving CSCFs (S-SCSF). TheP-CSCF is the first contact point within the IMS for asubscriber/endpoint, often referred to as User Equipment (UE), or UserAgents (UA). Two such P-CSCF SIP proxies are used in the SIP signaling.For example, a first P-CSCF-A may represent the SIP proxy to which themobile station (MS) of User A is attached, and a second P-CSCF-B mayrepresent the SIP proxy to which the MS of User B is attached. TheS-CSCF performs the session control, registration, and other servicesfor the subscriber, such that a first S-CSCF-A provides services forUser A in User A's home network, and a second S-CSCF-B provides servicesfor User B in User B's home network.

The 3GPP IMS utilizes SIP in order to achieve a wide range offunctionality with the network. SIP, defined by the Internet EngineeringTask Force (IETF), is an end-to-end signaling protocol that facilitates(among other things) the establishment, handling and release ofend-to-end multimedia sessions. It can be used in applications such asInternet conferencing, telephony, presence, events notification, instantmessaging, and the like. SIP enables network endpoints or “User Agents”(UA) to discover one another and to agree on a session characterization.User agents (UA) refer to the network endpoints that initiate SIPrequests to establish media sessions, and to transmit/receiveinformation. In order to locate other users, SIP utilizes aninfrastructure of network proxy servers such as the P-CSCF and S-CSCF towhich users can send registrations, invitations to sessions, and otherrequests via their terminals. SIP supports various aspects ofestablishing and terminating sessions, such as user availability,session setup such as ringing, session management, and some limitedterminal capabilities.

SIP, being an end-to-end signaling protocol, allows only endpoints(UE/UA) to generate messages. Intermediary network elements, such as theSIP proxies, are therefore unable to change or terminate ongoing SIPsessions. However, SIP provides services in operator-owned networks, andthe operator wants to have full control over the ongoing sessions in itsnetwork. The inability for the operator to release an ongoing sessionmay be problematic. For example, a mobile user may leave the radiocoverage area; the user may no longer be trusted or authenticated; theuser's pre-paid card may exhaust its remaining balance; or the like.While an IMS or similar network may be able to release the ongoing mediasessions at the bearer level (e.g., via the Go Interface betweenP-CSCF/PDF and a GGSN), network entities such as the P-CSCF and S-CSCFare unable to clear the call states in the other network entities andthe remote UE at the signaling level.

One solution to this problem could be to allow the releasing entity tosend a message, such as a REFER message, to one of the UEs. A SIP REFERmessage is described, for example, in IETF RFC 3515, entitled “TheSession Initiation Protocol (SIP) Refer Method,” by R. Sparks. The REFERmethod indicates that the recipient (identified by the Request-URI)should contact a third party using the contact information provided inthe request. Allowing the releasing entity to send a REFER message toone of the UEs would force the UE to send a BYE request to release thesession. However, because the SIP stack in a UE is typically implementedvia an application or other software, it can easily be modified by theowner of the UE, and therefore is not a reliable solution.

Further, in 3GPP IMS Release 5, the proxies (e.g., P-CSCF, S-CSCF) areallowed to generate and send BYE messages when the need for sessionrelease occurs. This solution, however, is not consistent with IETF SIP,and violates security for example. Also, this solution can only work in3GPP IMS, as certain restrictions and architectural constraints apply.

Accordingly, there is a need in the communications industry for a mannerof releasing sessions and call states in network entities at thesignaling level. The present invention fulfills these and other needs,and offers other advantages over the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To overcome limitations in the prior art described above, and toovercome other limitations that will become apparent upon reading andunderstanding the present specification, the present invention disclosesa system, apparatus and method for releasing signaling level sessionsvia network entities associated with the session.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a method is providedfor releasing a communication session involving network entities, wherethe network entities including session endpoints and intermediarynetwork entities. One or more of the network entities are subscribed toone or more of the intermediary network entities serving as notifiers.Upon releasing the communication session at a first notifier, a sessionrelease notification is initiated via a signaling protocol from thefirst notifier to its respective subscriber. The session releasenotification is logically advanced (e.g., according to the logicalconnection path and not necessarily according to a physical path)towards a remote one of the session endpoints via the intermediarynetwork entities. The communication session is terminated at each of thenetwork entities receiving the session release notification.

In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, a method isprovided for releasing a dialog established over an IP Multimedia corenetwork Subsystem (IMS) that supports services via the SessionInitiation Protocol (SIP), where the IMS includes a plurality of CallSession Control Functions (CSCFs) including at least a Proxy CSCF(P-CSCF) and an S-CSCF associated with each User Equipment (UE) involvedin the dialog. The dialog is initiated from one UE towards another UE.Each P-CSCF associated with the dialog is subscribed to its respectiveS-CSCF, and each of the UEs is subscribed to the P-CSCF associated withthe other UE. A SIP session release notification is generated at one ofthe CSCFs associated with a release of the dialog, and the SIP sessionrelease notification is transmitted towards its subscriber. The dialogstate is released at the remaining CSCFs as a result of the generationand transmission of the SIP session release notification.

According to more particular embodiments, such a method further includesreleasing the dialog state at one or both of the UEs as a result of thegeneration and transmission of the SIP session release notification. Inanother particular embodiment, the CSCF associated with the release ofthe dialog includes a first S-CSCF, and where generating a SIP sessionrelease notification at the first S-CSCF involves generating a SIPNOTIFY message and transmitting it towards a corresponding first P-CSCFthat subscribed to the first S-CSCF. In a more particular embodiment,releasing the dialog state at the remaining CSCFs involves generating asecond SIP NOTIFY message at the first P-CSCF, transmitting the secondSIP NOTIFY message towards the UE that subscribed to the first P-CSCF,and releasing the dialog state at the remaining S-CSCFs and P-CSCFs in apath from the first P-CSCF towards the UE that subscribed to the firstP-CSCF. In a more particular embodiment, releasing the dialog state atthe remaining S-CSCFs and P-CSCFs includes treating the second SIPNOTIFY message as a SIP BYE at each of the remaining S-CSCFs andP-CSCFs. In another particular embodiment, the method further includesreceiving the second SIP NOTIFY message at the UE that subscribed to thefirst P-CSCF, and transmitting a SIP BYE message from the UE thatsubscribed to the first P-CSCF towards the other UE.

According to other particular embodiments of such a method, the CSCFassociated with the release of the dialog includes a first P-CSCF, andwhere generating a SIP session release notification at the first P-CSCFinvolves generating a SIP NOTIFY message and transmitting the SIP NOTIFYmessage towards the UE that subscribed to the first P-CSCF. In a moreparticular embodiment, releasing the dialog state at the remaining CSCFsinvolves releasing the dialog state at the remaining S-CSCFs and P-CSCFsin a path from the first P-CSCF towards the UE that subscribed to thefirst P-CSCF. In another more particular embodiment, the method includesreceiving the SIP NOTIFY message at the UE that subscribed to the firstP-CSCF, and transmitting a SIP BYE message from the UE that subscribedto the first P-CSCF towards the other UE. In still more particularembodiments, the method includes releasing the dialog state at the UEreceiving the SIP BYE message. In other particular embodiments,releasing the dialog state at the remaining S-CSCFs and P-CSCFs involvestreating the second SIP NOTIFY message as a SIP BYE at each of theremaining S-CSCFs and P-CSCFs.

In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, an S-CSCFoperable in an IMS is provided, where the IMS includes at least a P-CSCFcoupled to communicate with the S-CSCF. The S-CSCF includes a processor,and various processing modules operable with the processor. Theprocessing modules may be implemented in software, firmware, or thelike, and are operable via the processor. A release recognition moduleis configured to determine whether a session should be released at theS-CSCF. A subscription management module is configured to receive asubscription to a session release notification from the P-CSCF, wherethe session release notification includes a directive for the P-CSCF torelease the session at the P-CSCF. A notification module is configuredto generate the session release notification for transmission to theP-CSCF in response to the session being released at the S-CSCF.

In more particular embodiments of the S-CSCF, a notification managementmodule is configured to receive and parse second session releasenotifications originating at other S-CSCFs or P-CSCFs associated withthe session, and to identify an indication to release the session at theS-CSCF. In another particular embodiment, the S-CSCF includes a sessiontermination module configured to receive the indication to release thesession at the S-CSCF, and in response, to release the session at theS-CSCF. In still another embodiment, the session release notificationfurther includes a second directive for the P-CSCF to terminate thesubscription.

In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, a P-CSCFoperable in an IP Multimedia core network Subsystem (IMS) is provided,where the IMS includes at least an S-CSCF coupled to communicate withthe P-CSCF. The P-CSCF includes a processor operable with variousprocessing modules. A release recognition module is configured todetermine whether a session should be released at the P-CSCF. Asubscription management module is configured to receive a subscriptionto a session release notification from a User Equipment (UE), where thesession release notification includes a directive for the UE to releasethe session at the UE. A notification module is configured to generatethe session release notification for transmission to the UE in responseto the session being released at the P-CSCF.

In more particular embodiments of the P-CSCF, a subscription module isconfigured to issue to the S-CSCF a subscription request for sessionrelease notifications originating at the S-CSCF. In another embodiment,a notification management module is configured to receive and parse thesession release notifications originating at the S-CSCF, and to identifyan indication to release the session at the P-CSCF. In still anotherparticular embodiment, a session termination module is configured toreceive the indication to release the session at the P-CSCF, and inresponse, to release the session at the P-CSCF.

In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, a system forcommunicating over an IP Multimedia core network Subsystem (IMS) isprovided. The system includes first and second User Equipments (UE)configured to engage in a dialog over the IMS, and a plurality of CallSession Control Functions (CSCF) associated with the IMS. The CSCFsinclude first and second Serving CSCFs (S-CSCF) and first and secondProxy CSCFs (P-CSCF). The first and second P-CSCFs serve as first pointsof communication within the IMS for the first and second UEsrespectively, and are coupled to communicate with at least the first andsecond S-CSCFs respectively. The first and second P-CSCFs are configuredto subscribe to the first and second S-CSCFs respectively, and the firstand second UEs are configured to subscribe to the second and firstP-CSCFs respectively. Each of the CSCFs includes a release recognitionmodule configured to identify a release of the dialog, and anotification module to generate a release notification for transmissiontowards its respective subscriber. Each of the UEs and CSCFs include asession release module configured to release the dialog in response toreceiving the release notification.

In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, acomputer-readable medium is provided, having instructions stored thereonwhich are executable by a Call Session Control Function (CSCF) computersystem for releasing a dialog established over an IP Multimedia corenetwork Subsystem (IMS). Such instructions stored on the medium may bemade available to the CSCF computer system in various manners, such asthe CSCF computer system having a media drive mechanism(s) to read thecomputer-readable medium, or by transmitting the instructions from themedium to the CSCF computer system over a network, link, or othercommunication interface. The instructions executable by the CSCFcomputer system perform steps including determining whether a sessionshould be released at the CSCF, and accepting a subscription to asession release notifications from a User Equipment (UE). The sessionrelease notification includes a directive for the UE to release thesession at the UE. The instructions further perform steps includinggenerating the session release notification for transmission to the UEin response to the session being released at the CSCF.

In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, a first networkentity is provided that is operable in a signaling network, where thesignaling network includes at least a second network entity coupled tocommunicate with the first network entity. The first network entityincludes a processor, and a release recognition module operable with theprocessor to determine whether a session should be released at the firstnetwork entity. The first network entity also includes a subscriptionmanagement module operable with the processor to receive a subscriptionto a session release notification from the second network entity. Thesession release notification includes a directive for the second networkentity to release the session at the second network entity. Anotification module operable with the processor is provided to generatethe session release notification for transmission to the second networkentity in response to the session being released at the first networkentity.

These and various other advantages and features of novelty whichcharacterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in theclaims annexed hereto and form a part hereof. However, for a betterunderstanding of the invention, its advantages, and the objects obtainedby its use, reference should be made to the drawings which form afurther part hereof, and to accompanying descriptive matter, in whichthere are illustrated and described specific examples of a system,apparatus, and method in accordance with the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is described in connection with the embodimentsillustrated in the following diagrams.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a system forreleasing sessions in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a more particular embodiment of asystem for releasing sessions in an IMS environment in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method forreleasing signaling level sessions in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating one manner of establishingsubscriptions in an IMS environment in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment in which P-CSCFnotifiers issue notifications to their subscribers in accordance withthe present invention;

FIGS. 6 and 7 are flow diagrams illustrating embodiments in whichnotifications are issued from an S-CSCF to their subscribers inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating the manner in which the UEresponds to receipt of a session release notification in accordance withone embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a call flow diagram illustrating a representative example ofhow the present invention may be used to handle a dialog release at anS-CSCF in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 10 illustrates a representative computing implementation of a CSCFcapable of carrying out operations in accordance with the invention; and

FIG. 11 illustrates a representative mobile device which may serve as aUE in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description of the exemplary embodiment, reference ismade to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in whichis shown by way of illustration various embodiments in which theinvention may be practiced. It is to be understood that otherembodiments may be utilized, as structural and operational changes maybe made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Generally, the present invention provides a manner for releasing networkcommunication sessions at network entities involved in the session. Thepresent invention is particularly useful where an end-to-end signalingprotocol is utilized that does not otherwise facilitate changes to, ortermination of, the session via intermediary network entities of thesession. Therefore, while an end-to-end signaling protocol such as SIPmay be used to change or terminate sessions via the session endpoints,such a signaling protocol does not account for release (or change) of anongoing session from an intermediary network entity, such as a proxy(s)or other server(s) in the operator network. The present inventionprovides a manner by which such intermediary network entities mayrelease the session, by having various network entities involved in thesession subscribe to other network entities involved in the session,notifying the subscribers of the release, and treating such a release atthe subscribing network entities as a session termination request inconformance with the implemented signaling protocol.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a system forreleasing sessions in accordance with the present invention. In theembodiment of FIG. 1, a first user, User-A 100, may want to establish acommunication session with another user, such as User-B 102. User-A 100and User-B 102 may utilize any wireless or landline communicationdevice, such as a mobile phone 104, Personal Digital Assistant 106,wireless or landline computing system 108, or other communication device110 that is compliant with the communication and signaling protocolsemployed. For example, where SIP is used as the signaling protocol, anySIP-compliant device 100, 102 may be used.

Communication between the users 100, 102 occurs over a network 112. Thenetwork may include one or more interworking wireless or landlinenetworks, including cellular networks (e.g., GSM, UMTS), data networkssuch as GPRS and the Internet, network subsystems such as IMS, and soforth. Signaling may be utilized to, among other things, establish asession between the users 100, 102. Various network entities in additionto the endpoints 100, 102 may be involved in the session, such asnetwork entities 114, 116, 118, 120, etc. In accordance with theinvention, various “subscriptions” are effected during callestablishment. For example, network entities involved in a particularsession 122 (often referred to as a “call leg” or “dialog” in SIPtransactions) subscribe to receive notifications of a release of thesession. For example, network entity 120 may subscribe 124 to receivesuch notifications from network entity 118, and the user equipmentassociated with User-A 100 may subscribe 126 to network entity 120. Itshould be noted that additional subscriptions may also take place, butare not shown in FIG. 1 for ease of description.

The subscriptions allow the subscribing entity (“subscriber”) tosubsequently receive a notification of a termination of the session, sothat the subscriber can release the session, even though a signalingprotocol is used that does not otherwise provide for such a releasenotification. For example, where SIP or another end-to-end signalingprotocol is used, an endpoint 100, 102 may initiate a release of thesession. However, the network may need to release the session ratherthan an endpoint. This may arise, for example, where a user 100, 102 ofthe session moves out of radio coverage, is no longer trusted orauthenticated, employs a pre-paid mechanism that has exhausted itsavailable assets, etc. In such case, a network entity such as networkentity 118 may release the session. However, the fact that such arelease has occurred needs to be relayed to the network entitiesinvolved in the session (including the endpoints), else the call statesin the other network entities will not be cleared.

For example, if network entity 118 releases a call session for anyreason, it will notify its subscribers of this fact. The subscriber tonetwork entity 118 as illustrated in FIG. 1 is the network entity 120,which is notified 128 of the release by network entity 118. Networkelement 120 receives this notification, clears its call states for thatsession 122, and notifies 130 its subscribers 100 of the release. Thesubscriber to network entity 120 as illustrated in FIG. 1 is the userequipment for User-A 100, which is notified 130 of the release. The userequipment for User-A 100 receives this notification, and clears its callstates for that session 122. Further, the session terminationnotification 130 is recognized by other network entities, such asnetwork entities 114, 116, 118, that terminate their respective callstates in response to the notification. In accordance with oneembodiment of the invention, the user equipment for User-A 100 can thensend a session termination message as supported by the end-to-endsignaling protocol (e.g., a BYE message using SIP), towards the otheruser equipment 102 involved in the session to notify it of the release.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a more particular embodiment of asystem for releasing sessions in accordance with the present invention.For purposes of illustration, the embodiment of FIG. 2 is described interms of General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) networks and the IPMultimedia Subsystem (IMS). For purposes of this description, GRPS andIMS are used as representative network architectures in which theprinciples of the present invention may be employed. However, as will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art from the descriptionprovided herein, the present invention is applicable in other current orfuture network environments.

To facilitate an understanding of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2,a brief description is provided of the GPRS and IMS networkenvironments. GPRS is a packet-switched wireless communication standardfor Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) that mirrors theInternet model and enables seamless transition towards 3G networks. GPRSprovides actual packet radio access for mobile GSM and time-divisionmultiple access (TDMA) users. With respect to IMS, the Third GenerationPartnership Project (3GPP) has standardized the Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS) in various phases, where Release 5included a system where the packet-switched core network (PS-CN)dominates over circuit-switched, and further took responsibility oftelephony services. Release 5 introduced a new core network into theUMTS architecture, namely the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) core thatsupports both telephony and multimedia services. The IMS interacts bothwith the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and the Internet (orother such large-scale network) to provide various multimedia servicesto users. Signaling in IMS is generally performed using SIP, and FIG. 2is described in generic terms of a SIP-enabled network (or analogousprotocol), which sets forth network elements such as proxy servers,registrars, and the like. In IMS, these generic network elements aremore particularly named and defined, and the present invention isequally applicable to IMS-based communication. For example, a SIP proxyis identified as a Call State Control Function (CSCF), of which varioustypes exist, including a proxy CSCF (P-CSCF), a serving CSCF (S-CSCF),and interrogating CSCF (I-CSCF). Generally, an S-CSCF performs and/orassists in performing a number of functions, including controllingsession management functions for the IMS, providing access to homenetwork servers such as location services, authentication, etc. A P-CSCFgenerally serves as the point of contact for applications (such as themobile terminal client applications), and performs and/or assists inperforming functions such as translation, security, authorization, etc.An I-CSCF generally serves as a point of contact in the home network forconnections destined to a subscriber of that home network or roamingsubscribers currently located within that network's service area. It mayperform a number of functions, such as assigning an S-CSCF to a userperforming registration, contacting the Home Subscriber Server (HSS) toobtain the S-CSCF address, forwarding SIP requests/responses to theS-CSCF, etc. For purposes of the description of FIG. 2, the P-CSCF andS-CSCF are relevant.

It is also noted that for the embodiment described in connection withFIG. 2, it is assumed that the P-CSCFs, S-CSCFs, and User Equipments(UEs) support various SIP extensions, event packages, and/or otherconditions. For example, in one embodiment of the invention, allP-CSCFs, S-CSCFs, and UEs support an event package for dialog state suchas set forth in IETF Internet Draft “A Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)Event Package for Dialog State,” as well as IETF RFC 3265 entitled“Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-Specific Event Notification.”Further, in one embodiment, all P-CSCFs and S-CSCFs are call statefulsuch that they can act as notifiers for the dialog state. This isdescribed more fully below.

The present invention may utilize any event notification methodology toallow the relevant network entities (e.g., UEs, SIP servers, etc.) torequest notification from remote nodes indicating that a certainevent(s) has occurred. In accordance with one embodiment of theinvention, such an event notification methodology may be implemented inaccordance with IETF RFC 3265, entitled “Session Initiation Protocol(SIP)-Specific Event Notification,” by A. B. Roach (hereinafter referredto as RFC 3265). RFC 3265 describes a framework by which notification ofdesired events can be ordered. Entities in the network can subscribe toresource or call state for various resources or calls in the network,and those entities (or entities acting on their behalf) can sendnotifications when those states change.

In accordance with RFC 3265, notifications can be provided from onenetwork entity to another, where one of the network entities serves as a“notifier” vis-à-vis the other network entity that represents the“subscriber.” Thus, a network entity such as a SIP proxy may represent anotifier with respect to one network entity, and may represent asubscriber with respect to another network entity. A subscriber caninitiate a state subscription request, such as via the SUBSCRIBE methodprovided by SIP, to another network entity serving as a notifier forthat particular subscription. The notifier may acknowledge a successfulsubscription by providing an appropriate response to the subscriber,such as via a 2×× response code (e.g., 200 response). A 200 responsewould indicate that the subscription has been accepted and that the useris authorized to subscribe to the requested resource. When desired stateinformation changes and is recognized by the notifier, the notifier canreturn current state information via a notification message, such as viaSIP's NOTIFY method. The subscriber may respond to the notificationmessage with an acknowledgment code, such as a SIP 200 response.

In accordance with the invention, a subscription may exist for anydesired time. In accordance with one embodiment conforming to RFC 3265,subscription requests may include an “expires” header that contains anexpiration value indicating the duration of the subscription. If no suchexpiration value is provided, a default subscription duration may apply.Subscribers may refresh their subscriptions using a new subscriptionrequest on the same dialog. Subscribers may also unsubscribe to thenotifier, such as by providing a zero or null expiration value in theexpires header in the RFC 3265 context.

An embodiment of the invention employing RFC 3265 may involveidentification of events by providing at least a Request URI, EventType, and optionally a message body. More particularly, the Request URIof a SUBSCRIBE request includes enough information to route the requestto the appropriate entity, and also includes enough information toidentify the resource for which event notification is desired. In thesubscription request, subscribers include an indication of which eventor class of events to which they are subscribing, such as through theuse of an “Event” header in the subscription (e.g., SUBSCRIBE) request.Such an Event header will include information indicating the type ofstate for which a subscription is being requested, where thisinformation may be registered with the Internet Assigned NumbersAuthority (IANA) and will correspond to an event package that furtherdescribes the semantics of the event or event class.

A “dialog” (also referred to as a “call leg”) refers to a peer-to-peerSIP relationship between two UAs that persists for some time. The dialogfacilitates sequencing of messages and proper routing of requestsbetween the UAs. For example, a dialog can be initiated using a SIPINVITE method. The dialog is established by SIP messages, such as a 2××response to the INVITE request. Generally, a dialog is identified ateach UA with a dialog ID, which includes a call identifier, local tag,and a remote tag. The dialog ID at each UA involved in the dialog is notthe same, as the local tag at one UA is the same as the remote tag atthe peer UA. Other SIP methods, such as the SUBSCRIBE method, are alsodialog-creating methods.

The state information provided by a notifier may be identified inadvance, such that specific state information available to the notifieris provided to the subscriber. In one embodiment, the state informationprovided by a notifier may be provided by way of an “event package.” Anevent package defines a set of state information to be reported by anotifier to a subscriber. In accordance with one embodiment of theinvention, the relevant network entities support an event package for adialog state, such as that described in IETF Internet Drafts “A SessionInitiation Protocol (SIP) Event for Dialog State”(draft-ietf-sipping-dialog-package-00.txt) and/or “An INVITE Inititiated[sic] Dialog Event Package for the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)”(draft-ietf-sipping-dialog-package-02).

Referring now to FIG. 2, a first UE, UE-A 200, may send a SIP INVITErequest targeted for another UE, shown as UE-B 202. As is known by thoseskilled in the art, an INVITE is a SIP method that is used for sessionsetup. The INVITE request generally includes a Request URI thatidentifies the destination address of the request, i.e., UE-B 202 in thepresent example. The INVITE may traverse the GPRS 204 or other similarnetwork associated with the UE-A 200, where the GPRS 204 may communicatewith an IMS network 205 by way of, for example, a Gateway GPRS SupportNode (GGSN; not shown). Upon receipt of an initial INVITE request, theP-CSCF supporting UE-A 200, namely P-CSCF-A 206, subscribes 208 to theDialog State for the INVITE dialog at S-CSCF-A 210. The P-CSCF-A 206 mayobtain the address of the S-CSCF-A 210 from the Route header in theinitial INVITE request or other analogous header. The P-CSCF-B 212subscribes 214 to the Dialog State for the INVITE dialog at S-CSCF-B216, the address of which it may obtain from the received Record-Routeheader or other analogous header. UE-B 202 subscribes 218 to the DialogState for the INVITE dialog at P-CSCF-A 206 which serves as the outboundproxy of UE-A 200. UE-B 202 may obtain the address of P-CSCF-A 206 fromthe received Record-Route header or other analogous header. Upon receiptof a 1××/2×× response code (other than a 100 “Trying” response code) tothe initial INVITE request, UE-A 200 subscribes 220 to the Dialog Statefor the INVITE dialog at P-CSCF-B 212 which serves as the outbound proxyof UE-B 202. UE-B 202 may obtain the address of P-CSCF-B 212 from thereceived Record-Route header or other analogous header. At this point,the network entities involved in the dialog are subscribed to receivenotifications from the relevant network entities, such that the callstate may be cleared in accordance with the present invention upon anon-endpoint release of the dialog. It is noted that the subscriptionsto the Dialog State package shall generate different dialogs than thedialog generated by the INVITE-1××/2×× dialog, as the subscribe dialogsdo not cover the same complete route as the INVITE-1××/2×× dialog.

According to one embodiment of the invention, if one of the P-CSCFsbecomes aware of the fact that the attached UE is not subscribing to theremote P-CSCF (e.g., a non-compliant UE), the P-CSCF will subscribeitself to the remote P-CSCF. This guarantees that at least the callstates in the non-endpoint network elements (CSCFs) will get cleared.The UE that did not subscribe will not, in such a scenario, be updatedwith the correct call state.

As previously indicated, the present invention allows for the clearingof call states in the relevant network entities where the release occursat a network entity intermediate to the session endpoints. For example,an S-CSCFs 210, 216 may release an INVITE dialog. An S-CSCF may performsuch a release when, for example, the user's pre-paid card/account hasexpended its available balance. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of such arelease (REL) 222 performed by S-CSCF-B 216. When this occurs, theS-CSCF-B 216 generates a NOTIFY 224 for the Call State package. As isknown in the art, a NOTIFY request is a SIP method that effects atransport of a subscribed event notification. In accordance with theinvention, the NOTIFY includes the state indication “terminated” (orother appropriate dialog termination indicator) for the related dialog.The NOTIFY also includes the subscription state header with the value“terminated” (or other appropriate dialog termination indicator), inorder to terminate the subscription. The S-CSCF-B 216 sends the NOTIFY224 towards its subscriber, which is the P-CSCF-B 212 to which UE-B 202(that the S-CSCF-B 216 serves) is attached to. Analogously, the S-CSCF-A210 would send such a NOTIFY to P-CSCF-A 206 had the release occurred atS-CSCF-A 210.

When the P-CSCF-B 212 receives the NOTIFY for the Dialog State package(which is addressed to it by the S-CSCF-B 216 that serves its attacheduser UE-B 202), and the NOTIFY includes the “terminated” (or analogousindication) state indication for the related dialog, the P-CSCF-B 212will generate a NOTIFY 226 for the Call State package that includes thestate indication “terminated” (or other appropriate dialog terminationindicator) for the related dialog and the subscription state header withthe value “terminated” (or other appropriate dialog terminationindicator), in order to terminate the subscription. The P-CSCF-B 212will send the NOTIFY 226 towards its subscriber, which is the remoteUE-A 200 in the illustrated example. Alternatively, in the case whereUE-A 200 is a non-compliant device that did not originally subscribe 220to the P-CSCF-B 212, then the remote P-CSCF (P-CSCF-A 206) would be thesubscriber to P-CSCF-B 212, and the NOTIFY 226 would be directed toP-CSCF-A 206.

The P-CSCF-B 212 treats the received NOTIFY 224 as a session terminationrequest; in the case of SIP, the NOTIFY 224 will be treated as if a BYEmessage had been received for the indicated INVITE dialog. In thismanner, the P-CSCF-B 212 will release the call states in response toreceiving the NOTIFY 224 from its notifier S-CSCF-B 216, and will alsorelease all information and resources related to the subscription to theS-CSCF-B 216.

As indicated above, the P-CSCF-B 212 will send a NOTIFY 226 towards itssubscriber, which is the remote UE-A 200 in the example of FIG. 2. Oneor more S-CSCFs may then receive such a NOTIFY message for the DialogState package for a dialog it is involved in. This NOTIFY will not beaddressed to the S-CSCF, but rather to one of the involved UEs orP-CSCFs. Whenever one of the S-CSCFs receives such a NOTIFY message forthe Dialog State package for a dialog it is involved in, and this NOTIFYincludes a state termination “terminated” (or analogous indication) forthe related dialog, the S-CSCF will treat that NOTIFY as if a sessiontermination request (e.g., SIP BYE message) for the related INVITEdialog has been received. For example, S-CSCF-A 210 will receive theNOTIFY 226 from the P-CSCF-B 212, and because this NOTIFY 226 willinclude a state indication “terminated” for the related dialog, S-CSCF-A210 will treat that NOTIFY 226 as if a BYE message for the relatedINVITE dialog has been received. Thus, S-CSCF-A 210 will clear its callstates for the related INVITE dialog.

The NOTIFY 226 is addressed to its subscriber, UE-A 200. The NOTIFY 226received at the S-CSCF-A 210 therefore continues to the P-CSCF-A 206.All CSCFs through which the NOTIFY passes will act on that NOTIFY as ifa SIP BYE message was received. Therefore, when the P-CSCF-A 206receives the NOTIFY 226, it will release the call states in a manneranalogous to that had a SIP BYE message been received at P-CSCF-A 206.

The NOTIFY 226 from the P-CSCF-B 212 notifier reaches its ultimatesubscriber, the UE-A 200. The UE-A 200, upon receiving the NOTIFY 226that indicates a related INVITE dialog as “terminated,” responds withthe appropriate SIP response code, such as 200 OK. In one embodiment ofthe invention, UE-A 200 treats the received NOTIFY 226 as a trigger tosend a session termination message such as a SIP BYE (B) message 228towards the other UE. The sending of a BYE 228 by the remote UE, UE-A200 in this example, cannot be assured, as a UE generally cannot betrusted. This BYE request 228 may be sent simply to complete SIPtransactions.

A session or dialog may be released by a P-CSCF as well. For example, aP-CSCF may release an INVITE dialog when its associated user leaves theradio coverage area. FIG. 2 also illustrates such a scenario, whereP-CSCF-A 206 releases (REL) 230 the INVITE dialog, which may occur ifUE-A 200 leaves the radio coverage area. In such case, P-CSCF-A 206generates a NOTIFY 232 for the Call State package. The NOTIFY 232includes the state indication “terminated” (or other appropriate dialogtermination indicator) for the related dialog, as well as thesubscription state header with the value “terminated” (or otherappropriate dialog termination indicator), in order to terminate thesubscription. P-CSCF-A 206 sends the NOTIFY 232 towards its subscriber,which is UE-B 202 in the illustrated example. Alternatively, where UE-B202 is a non-compliant device that did not originally subscribe 218 tothe P-CSCF-A 206, then the remote P-CSCF (P-CSCF-B 212) would be thesubscriber to P-CSCF-A 206, and the NOTIFY 232 would be directed toP-CSCF-B 212. The P-CSCF-A 206 will clear its call states for theinitial INVITE dialog.

Analogously to that previously described, the NOTIFY 232 will passthrough other CSCFs such as S-CSCF-A 210, S-CSCF-B 216, and P-CSCF-B 212on its way to the subscriber UE-B 202. All CSCFs through which theNOTIFY 232 passes will act on that NOTIFY 232 as if a SIP BYE messagewas received, thereby allowing those CSCFs to clear the call states forthat INVITE dialog. The UE-B 202 shall, upon receipt of the NOTIFY 232which indicates a related INVITE dialog as “terminated,” respond with anappropriate response code (e.g., 200 OK), and treat the received NOTIFY232 as a trigger to issue a BYE (B) message 234 towards UE-A 200.

To summarize some of the actions described in connection with FIG. 2,whenever one of the P-CSCFs either releases an INVITE dialog, orreceives a NOTIFY for the Dialog State package that is either directlyaddressed to it or to the UE attached to it where the NOTIFY includesthe state indication “terminated” for the related dialog and wasgenerated by the S-CSCF serving its attached user, the P-CSCF shall takecertain actions. These actions include generating a NOTIFY for the CallState package that includes the state indication “terminated” (or otherappropriate indicator) for the related dialog, and includes subscriptionstate information indicating “terminated” (or other appropriateindicator) in order to terminate the subscription. The P-CSCF will sendthe NOTIFY towards its subscriber, which is the remote UE or, in thecase of a non-compliant UE, is the remote P-CSCF. The P-CSCF will treatthe received NOTIFY as if a BYE message for the indicated INVITE dialoghas been received. Afterwards, the P-CSCF shall release all informationand resources related to the subscription to the S-CSCF.

With respect to S-CSCFs, whenever one of the S-CSCFs releases an INVITEdialog, it will generate a NOTIFY for the Call State package thatincludes the state indication “terminated” (or other appropriateindicator) for the related dialog, and includes subscription stateinformation indicating “terminated” (or other appropriate indicator) inorder to terminate the subscription. The S-CSCF will send the NOTIFYtowards its subscriber—the P-CSCF to which the user, whom the S-CSCFserves, is attached to. Further, whenever one of the S-CSCFs receives aNOTIFY message for the Dialog State package for a dialog it is involvedin, and this NOTIFY includes a state indication “terminated” for therelated dialog, the S-CSCF will treat that NOTIFY as if a BYE messagefor the related INVITE dialog has been received.

Finally, the UE shall, upon receipt of a NOTIFY which indicates arelated INVITE dialog as “terminated,” send back a response such as a200 OK, and treat the received NOTIFY as a trigger for a BYE messagestowards the other UE.

While the description of FIG. 2 was generally described in terms of SIPsignaling methodologies, it should be noted that the present inventionis equally applicable to other current and/or future signalingprotocols. SIP methods such as SUBSCRIBE, INVITE, and NOTIFY or thefunctionality provided by such SIP methods may be provided via othersignaling protocols, and the present invention is equally applicable tosuch other signaling protocols.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method forreleasing signaling level sessions in accordance with the presentinvention. A session is initiated 300. Assuming SIP as the signalingprotocol, initiation of a session may involve an INVITE request issuedfrom a session endpoint, such as a mobile phone, PDA, or otherSIP-enabled computing device. Such an INVITE request is directed to aremote session endpoint, such as another mobile phone, PDA, or otherSIP-enabled computing device.

Upon receipt of such an initial INVITE request or other manner ofinitiating 300 the session, various subscriptions are established 302 inaccordance with the invention. Where the session involves networkentities including the session endpoints as well as intermediary networkentities, one or more of the network entities subscribe 302 to one ormore of the intermediary network entities that therefore serve asnotifiers. It should be recognized that an intermediary network entitymay serve as both a subscriber and a notifier.

As a more particular example, one embodiment of the invention involvesestablishing 302 subscriptions in an IMS environment, where all P-CSCFs,S-CSCFs, and IMS UEs support the IETF “A Session Initiation Protocol(SIP) Event Package for Dialog State” and RFC 3265, and all P-CSCFs andS-CSCFs are call stateful so they can act as notifiers for the DialogState. Upon receipt of an INVITE request, various CSCFs (intermediaryentities) and UEs (endpoints) subscribe to certain CSCFs. Moreparticularly, each P-CSCF may subscribe 302 to the Dialog State for theINVITE dialog at its corresponding S-CSCF, and each UE subscribes to theDialog State for the INVITE dialog at the P-CSCF attached to the otherUE of the dialog. Each P-CSCF and S-CSCF to which a subscription hasbeen made may now act as a notifier in the sense of RFC 3265.

If the call/session gets released at one of these notifiers asdetermined at decision block 304, that notifier initiates a sessionrelease notification via the signaling protocol to its respectivesubscriber. For example, if a call is released at an S-CSCF, that S-CSCFwill send 306 a NOTIFY to its subscriber, which is its correspondingP-CSCF. The NOTIFY will thereby indicate the release to the subscribingP-CSCF. In accordance with the invention, the session releasenotification (e.g., NOTIFY message) will be logically advanced towardsthe remote session endpoint via the intermediary network entities. Ifthe subscriber of that NOTIFY is a P-CSCF, it will generate a new NOTIFYand send it towards its subscriber, which is the remote UE. Thus, thesubscribers to the notifications, as well as the network entities in thepath of the notifications, will terminate 308 the session. In oneembodiment, the NOTIFY is treated at each P-CSCF and S-CSCF as if a SIPBYE message was received, which will terminate the session in order toclear the call states.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating one manner of establishingsubscriptions in an IMS environment in accordance with the invention.For purposes of FIG. 4, it is assumed that P-CSCF-A represents the SIPproxy to which UE-A is attached to, P-CSCF-B represents the SIP proxy towhich UE-B is attached to, S-CSCF-A represents the SIP proxy providingservices for User A (i.e., UE-A) in User A's home network, and S-CSCF-Brepresents the SIP proxy providing services for User B (i.e., UE-B) inUser B's home network.

During call establishment, such as upon receipt of an INVITE request,UE-A sends 400 an INVITE request targeted for UE-B. P-CSCF-A subscribes402 to the Dialog State for the INVITE dialog at S-CSCF-A, and P-CSCF-Bsubscribes 404 to the Dialog State for the INVITE dialog as S-CSCF-B. IfUE-B is a compliant device (e.g., supports the IETF “A SessionInitiation Protocol (SIP) Event Package for Dialog State” and RFC 3265)as determined at decision block 406, then UE-B subscribes 408 to theDialog State for the INVITE dialog at P-CSCF-A. If UE-B isnon-compliant, P-CSCF-B may become aware of this and will subscribe 410itself to the remote P-CSCF, which is P-CSCF-A in the present example.Upon receipt 412 of an appropriate response code such as 1××/2××responses (except, for example, 100 “Trying”) to the initial INVITErequest, the UE-A subscribes 414 to the Dialog State for the INVITEdialog at P-CSCF-B, assuming UE-A is compliant as determined at decisionblock 416. If UE-A is not compliant, then P-CSCF-A subscribes 418 to theDialog State for the INVITE dialog at P-CSCF-B.

Once subscriptions have been established, notifiers will notify theirsubscribers of a release of a call. FIG. 5 is a flow diagramillustrating one embodiment in which such notifications issued from aP-CSCF may be effected in accordance with the present invention. If aP-CSCF receives a session release notification such as a SIP NOTIFY forthe Dialog State package that meets certain criteria as determined atdecision block 500, the P-CSCF will treat 502 the notify as a BYEmessage for the indicated INVITE dialog. For example, if a P-CSCFreceives a NOTIFY that was generated by the S-CSCF serving its attacheduser, and the NOTIFY is either directly addressed to it or is addressedto the UE attached to it and includes a state indication that therelated dialog was released, then that P-CSCF will treat the NOTIFY asif a BYE message was received for that INVITE dialog. The P-CSCF willgenerate 504 a NOTIFY for the Call State package that includes theappropriate call state indication and subscription state indication.More particularly, the state indication will be set to “terminated” orother analogous indication for the related dialog, and the subscriptionstate will be set to “terminated” or other analogous indication toterminate the subscription. Further, if a P-CSCF itself releases theINVITE dialog as determined at decision block 506, such a NOTIFY messagewill be generated 504.

When the NOTIFY message has been generated, the P-CSCF sends 508 theNOTIFY towards its subscriber. The subscriber will be the remote UE, orthe remote P-CSCF where the remote UE is a non-compliant device and theremote P-CSCF was the subscribing entity rather than the remote UE. TheP-CSCF shall then release 510 all information and resources related tothe subscription to its associated S-CSCF.

As indicated above, notifiers will notify their subscribers of a releaseof a call once subscriptions have been established. FIGS. 6 and 7 areflow diagrams illustrating various embodiments in which suchnotifications issued from a S-CSCF may be effected in accordance withthe present invention. Whenever one of the S-CSCFs releases 600 anINVITE dialog, it will generate 602 a NOTIFY for the Call State packagewith the appropriate call state indication and subscription stateindication. More particularly, the state indication will be set to“terminated” or other analogous indication for the related dialog, andthe subscription state will be set to “terminated” or other analogousindication to terminate the subscription. The S-CSCF sends 604 theNOTIFY towards its subscriber. The subscriber in this example is theP-CSCF to which the user, whom the S-CSCF serves, is attached. When oneof the S-CSCFs receives a NOTIFY message for the Dialog State packagefor a dialog it is involved in, and that NOTIFY includes a “terminated”state indication as determined at decision block 700 of FIG. 7, theS-CSCF will treat that NOTIFY as if a BYE message for the related INVITEdialog has been received as shown at block 702. It should be noted thatsuch a NOTIFY will not be addressed to the S-CSCF, but rather to one ofthe involved UEs/P-CSCFs.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating the manner in which the UE shallrespond to receipt of a session release notification in accordance withone embodiment of the invention. When the UE receives a NOTIFY thatindicates a related INVITE dialog as “terminated” as determined atdecision block 800, the UE will respond 802 with an appropriate responsecode such as a 200 OK. The UE will treat the received NOTIFY as atrigger for a BYE message towards the other UE, as illustrated at block804. The remote UE sending such a BYE message may not be assured, as aUE generally cannot be trusted. However, this BYE request is sent inorder to complete SIP transactions.

FIG. 9 is a call flow diagram illustrating a representative example ofhow the present invention may be used to handle a dialog release at anS-CSCF in accordance with the invention. The illustrated example isdescribed in an IMS environment, including UE-A 900 and UE-B 902 as thedialog endpoints, P-CSCF-A 904 and S-CSCF-A 906 supporting UE-A 900, andP-CSCF-B 908 and S-CSCF-B 910 supporting UE-B 902. This exampleillustrates a call flow where the initial subscriptions are established,and a call release subsequently occurs due to User A's pre-paid cardexhausting its available balance.

UE-A 900 initiates the dialog by issuing an INVITE 912 having a dialogID of ABC. The INVITE is targeted to UE-B 902. When P-CSCF-A 904receives the INVITE, it subscribes 914 to the Dialog State of dialog ABCat S-CSCF-A 906. When P-CSCF-B 908 receives the INVITE, it subscribes916 to the Dialog State of dialog ABC at S-CSCF-B 910. When UE-B 902receives the INVITE, it subscribes 918 to the Dialog State of dialog ABCat the remote P-CSCF, namely P-CSCF-A 904. If P-CSCF-B 908 becomes awarethat UE-B 902 is not subscribing 918 to the remote P-CSCF-A 904,P-CSCF-B 908 itself can subscribe to P-CSCF-A 904. UE-B 902 issues aresponse code, such as a 183 Session In Progress 920, to UE-A 900. Inresponse, UE-A 900 subscribes 922 to the Dialog State of dialog ABC atits remote P-CSCF, namely P-CSCF-B 908. At this point, the dialog andsubscriptions are established.

At some point, it is assumed that User A's (UE-A) pre-paid card exhaustsits available funds—i.e., the card runs out of money as illustrated atblock 924. S-CSCF-A 906 is the network entity that will know this fact,and will issue a NOTIFY 926 to its subscriber, the P-CSCF-A 904. TheNOTIFY 926 includes a call state indicating “terminated,” and asubscription state indicating “terminated.” The P-CSCF-A 904 treats thisNOTIFY 926 as a BYE as shown at block 928 and releases the call state atP-CSCF-A 904. P-CSCF-A 904 then generates a NOTIFY 930, again indicatinga call state of “terminated,” and a subscription state of “terminated.”As the NOTIFY 930 advances towards the remote UE-B 902, the S-CSCF-A906, S-CSCF-B 910, and P-CSCF-B 908 treat the NOTIFY 930 as a BYE asindicated at blocks 932, 934 and 936 respectively. In this manner, theintermediary network elements that otherwise would not be able to send aSIP BYE message, can clear their call states.

At the CSCFs, hardware, firmware, software or a combination thereof maybe used to perform the CSCF functions and operations in accordance withthe invention. An example of a representative computing implementationof an S-CSCF 1000 capable of carrying out operations in accordance withthe invention is illustrated in FIG. 10.

The representative S-CSCF computing arrangement suitable for performingthe subscription, notification, and release functions includes a centralprocessor 1002, which may be coupled to memory 1004 and storage 1006.The processor 1002 carries out a variety of standard computing functionsas is known in the art, as dictated by software and/or firmwareinstructions. The storage 1006 may represent firmware, hard-drivestorage, etc. The storage 1006 may also represent other types of storagemedia to store programs, such as programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM(EPROM), etc. The processor 1002 may communicate with other internal andexternal components through input/output (I/O) circuitry 1008. TheS-CSCF may also include one or more media drive devices 1010, includinghard and floppy disk drives, CD-ROM drives, DVD drives, and otherhardware capable of reading and/or storing information. In oneembodiment, software for carrying out the operations in accordance withthe present invention may be stored and distributed on CD-ROM, disketteor other form of media capable of portably storing information, asrepresented by media devices 1012. These storage media may be insertedinto, and read by, the media drive devices 1010. Such software may alsobe transmitted to the S-CSCF 1000 via data signals, such as beingdownloaded electronically via a network, such as the Internet 1014,Local Area Network (LAN) 1016.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the storage 1006,memory 1004, and/or media devices 1012 store the various programs anddata used in connection with the present invention. In the illustratedembodiment of FIG. 10, the storage 1006 is shown storing the variousprogram modules, operable in connection with the processor 1002. Forexample, the illustrated embodiment depicts a subscription managementmodule 1020, release recognition module 1022, notification module 1024,notification management module 1026, and session termination module1028. The subscription management module 1020 manages the subscriptionsby other entities in accordance with the invention, such assubscriptions by its associated P-CSCF. The release recognition module1022 determines whether a call should be released at the S-CSCF, such aswhen the associated user's pre-paid account has expended its availablebalance and the call should therefore be terminated. The notificationmodule 1024 performs the notification function, including generating theNOTIFY message with the appropriate call state and subscription statethat is targeted for its associated P-CSCF. The notification managementmodule 1026 manages the notifications received at the S-CSCF. Moreparticularly, this module 1026 will receive the NOTIFY indication anddetermine at least the call state to determine if it indicates a“terminated” state. This may be performed, for example, by monitoring aparticular header value(s) in the received NOTIFY message. Where thecall state of the NOTIFY generated by its associated P-CSCF indicates“terminated,” the session termination module 1028 will treat the NOTIFYas a BYE message and release the call state at the signaling level.

A representative P-CSCF would be similar to that shown in FIG. 10, andmay include modules such as the subscription management module 1020,release recognition module 1022, notification module 1024, notificationmanagement module 1026, session termination module 1028, andsubscription module 1030. Because the P-CSCF serves as a subscriber aswell as a notifier, the subscription module 1030 issues the subscriptionrequest, such as a SIP SUBSCRIBE request, to the associated S-CSCF. Thesubscription management module 1020 for the P-CSCF manages thesubscriptions by other entities in accordance with the invention, suchas subscriptions by its attached UE. The release recognition module 1022determines whether a call has been released at the P-CSCF, such as whenan attached mobile user moves out of the radio coverage area. Thenotification module 1024 in a P-CSCF performs the notification function,including generating the NOTIFY message with the appropriate call stateand subscription state that is targeted for the remote UE. Thenotification management module 1026 manages notifications received atthe P-CSCF from its S-CSCF notifier. More particularly, this module 1026may receive a NOTIFY indication from the S-CSCF, and will monitor thecall state and subscription state to determine whether the states are“terminated.” If so, the notification module 1024 will generate a newNOTIFY to send towards the remote UE. Where the call state of the NOTIFYgenerated by its associated S-CSCF indicates “terminated,” the sessiontermination module 1028 will treat the NOTIFY as a BYE message andrelease the call state and the subscription state at the signalinglevel.

The computing arrangement 1000 of FIG. 10 is provided as arepresentative example of a computing environment in which theprinciples of the present invention may be applied. From the descriptionprovided herein, those skilled in the art will appreciate that thepresent invention is equally applicable in a variety of other computingarrangements. Thus, the present invention is applicable in any knowncomputing structure where data may be communicated via a network.

Analogously, hardware, firmware, software or a combination thereof maybe used to perform the UE functions and operations in accordance withthe invention. The UE devices in accordance with the invention includecommunication devices compliant with the signaling protocol employed,such as SIP-enabled devices. These devices include, for example, mobilephones, PDAs, and other wireless communicators, as well as landlinecomputing systems and communicators. A representative example of amobile device which may serve as a UE in accordance with the presentinvention is illustrated in FIG. 11. The mobile device 1100 utilizescomputing systems to control and manage the conventional device activityas well as the functionality provided by the present invention. Therepresentative mobile device 1100 includes a computing system capable ofcarrying out operations in accordance with the invention. For example,the representative mobile device 1100 includes a processing/control unit1102, such as a microprocessor, reduced instruction set computer (RISC),or other central processing module. The processing unit 1102 need not bea single device, and may include one or more processors. For example,the processing unit may include a master processor and associated slaveprocessors coupled to communicate with the master processor.

The processing unit 1102 controls the basic functions of the mobiledevice 1100 as dictated by programs available in the programstorage/memory 1104. The storage/memory 1104 may include an operatingsystem and various program and data modules associated with the presentinvention. In one embodiment of the invention, the programs are storedin non-volatile electrically-erasable, programmable read-only memory(EEPROM), flash ROM, etc., so that the programs are not lost upon powerdown of the mobile device. The storage 1104 may also include one or moreof other types of read-only memory (ROM) and programmable and/orerasable ROM, random access memory (RAM), subscriber interface module(SIM), wireless interface module (WIM), smart card, or other fixed orremovable memory device. The relevant software for carrying out mobiledevice operations in accordance with the present invention may also betransmitted to the mobile device 1100 via data signals, such as beingdownloaded electronically via one or more networks, such as the Internetand an intermediate wireless network(s).

For performing other standard mobile device functions, the processor1102 is also coupled to user-interface 1106 associated with the mobiledevice 1100. The user-interface (UI) 1106 may include, for example, adisplay 1108 such as a liquid crystal display, a keypad 1110, speaker1112, and microphone 1114. These and other UI components are coupled tothe processor 1102 as is known in the art. The keypad 1110 may includealpha-numeric keys for performing a variety of functions, includingdialing numbers for conventional cellular communication, and/oreffecting SIP-based communication. Other UI mechanisms may be employed,such as voice commands, switches, touch pad/screen, graphical userinterface using a pointing device, trackball, joystick, or any otheruser interface mechanism.

The wireless device 1100 may also includes conventional circuitry forperforming wireless transmissions over the mobile network. The DSP 1116may be employed to perform a variety of functions, includinganalog-to-digital (A/D) conversion, digital-to-analog (D/A) conversion,speech coding/decoding, encryption/decryption, error detection andcorrection, bit stream translation, filtering, etc. The transceiver1118, generally coupled to an antenna 1120, transmits the outgoing radiosignals 1122 and receives the incoming radio signals 1124 associatedwith the mobile device 1100.

In the illustrated embodiment, the storage/memory 1104 stores thevarious client programs such as the user agent (UA) involved in a dialogwith another UE. For example, the storage 1104 includes the subscription1126, notification management 1128, and session termination 1130modules. The subscription module 1126 issues the subscription request,such as a SIP SUBSCRIBE request, to the remote P-CSCF. The notificationmanagement module 1128 manages notifications received at the device 1100from the remote P-CSCF when a release has occurred at the remoteP-CSCF/S-CSCF. The session termination module 1130 treats a receivedNOTIFY as a trigger for issuing a BYE message towards the other UE.

The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiment of the inventionhas been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. Itis not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to theprecise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possiblein light of the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of theinvention be limited not with this detailed description, but ratherdefined by the claims appended hereto.

1. A method for releasing a communication session involving networkentities including session endpoints and intermediary network entities,comprising: subscribing one or more of the network entities assubscribers to one or more of the intermediary network entities servingas notifiers; releasing the communication session at a first one ofnotifiers; initiating a session release notification via a signalingprotocol from the first notifier to its respective subscriber; logicallyadvancing the session release notification towards a remote one of thesession endpoints via the intermediary network entities; and terminatingthe communication session at each of the network entities receiving thesession release notification.
 2. The method as in claim 1, wherein thesignaling protocol comprises a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), andwherein the intermediary network entities comprise Call Session ControlFunctions (CSCFs) in an EP Multimedia core network Subsystem (IMS). 3.The method as in claim 1, wherein initiating a session releasenotification comprises generating the session release notification inconformance with the signaling protocol, and wherein logically advancingthe session release notification comprises passing the session releasenotification to the remote session endpoint by way of the intermediarynetwork entities.
 4. The method as in claim 3, wherein the firstnotifier comprises a Proxy Call Session Control Function (P-CSCF) in anIP Multimedia core network Subsystem (IMS).
 5. The method as in claim 3,wherein passing the session release notification to the remote sessionendpoint by way of the intermediary network entities comprisesforwarding the session release notification from one intermediarynetwork entity to another intermediary network entity until reaching theremote session endpoint.
 6. The method as in claim 1, wherein initiatinga session release notification comprises generating a first sessionrelease notification in conformance with the signaling protocol, andwherein logically advancing the session release notification comprises:sending the first session release notification to the subscriber of thefirst notifier, wherein the subscriber of the first notifier serves as asecond notifier to the remote one of the session endpoints; andgenerating a second session release notification at the second notifier,and passing the second session release notification to the remotesession endpoint by way of the intermediary network entities.
 7. Themethod as in claim 6, wherein the first notifier comprises a ServingCall Session Control Function (S-CSCF), and the second notifiercomprises a Proxy Call Session Control Function (P-CSCF), in an IPMultimedia core network Subsystem (IMS).
 8. The method as in claim 1,wherein terminating the communication session at each of the networkentities comprises treating the session release notification as asession termination message in conformance with the signaling protocolat each of the network entities receiving the session releasenotification.
 9. The method as in claim 8, further comprising issuing asession termination message at the remote session endpoint towards atleast one other session endpoint in response to receiving the sessionrelease notification.
 10. The method as in claim 1, wherein subscribingone or more of the network entities as subscribers comprises subscribingin conformance with the signaling protocol.
 11. The method as in claim10, wherein subscribing in conformance with the signaling protocolcomprises subscribing via a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP).
 12. Themethod as in claim 1, wherein the signaling protocol comprises anend-to-end signaling protocol.
 13. The method as in claim 12, whereinthe end-to-end signaling protocol comprises a Session InitiationProtocol (SIP), and wherein the intermediary network entities compriseCall Session Control Functions (CSCFs) in an EP Multimedia core networkSubsystem (IMS).
 14. The method as in claim 1, wherein at least one ofthe network entities serves as both a subscriber and a notifier.
 15. Amethod for releasing a dialog established over an IP Multimedia corenetwork Subsystem (IMS) that supports services via the SessionInitiation Protocol (SIP), wherein the IMS includes a plurality of CallSession Control Functions (CSCFs) including at least a Proxy CSCF(P-CSCF) and a Serving CSCF (S-CSCF) associated with each User Equipment(UE) involved in the dialog, the method comprising: initiating thedialog from one UE towards another UE; subscribing each P-CSCFassociated with the dialog to its respective S-CSCF, and subscribingeach of the UEs to the P-CSCF associated with the other UE; generating aSIP session release notification at one of the CSCFs associated with arelease of the dialog and transmitting the SIP session releasenotification towards its subscriber; and releasing a dialog state at theremaining CSCFs as a result of the generation and transmission of theSIP session release notification.
 16. The method as in claim 15, furthercomprising releasing the dialog state at at least one of the UEs as aresult of the generation and transmission of the SIP session releasenotification.
 17. The method as in claim 15, wherein the CSCF associatedwith the release of the dialog comprises a first one of the S-CSCFs, andwherein generating a SIP session release notification at the firstS-CSCF comprises generating a SIP NOTIFY message and transmitting theSIP NOTIFY message towards a corresponding first P-CSCF that subscribedto the first S-CSCF.
 18. The method as in claim 17, wherein releasing adialog state at the remaining CSCFs comprises: generating a second SIPNOTIFY message at the first P-CSCF, and transmitting the second SIPNOTIFY message towards the UE that subscribed to the first P-CSCF; andreleasing the dialog state at the remaining S-CSCFs and P-CSCFs in apath from the first P-CSCF towards the UE that subscribed to the firstP-CSCF.
 19. The method as in claim 18, wherein releasing the dialogstate at the remaining S-CSCFs and P-CSCFs comprises treating the secondSIP NOTIFY message as a SIP BYE at each of the remaining S-CSCFs andP-CSCFs.
 20. The method as in claim 18, further comprising receiving thesecond SIP NOTIFY message at the UE that subscribed to the first P-CSCF,and transmitting a SIP BYE message from the UE that subscribed to thefirst P-CSCF towards the other UE.
 21. The method as in claim 20,further comprising releasing the dialog state at the UE receiving theSIP BYE message.
 22. The method as in claim 15, wherein the CSCFassociated with the release of the dialog comprises a first one of theP-CSCFs, and wherein generating a SIP session release notification atthe first P-CSCF comprises generating a SIP NOTIFY message andtransmitting the SIP NOTIFY message towards the UE that subscribed tothe first P-CSCF.
 23. The method as in claim 22, wherein releasing adialog state at the remaining CSCFs comprises releasing the dialog stateat the remaining S-CSCFs and P-CSCFs in a path from the first P-CSCFtowards the UE that subscribed to the first P-CSCF.
 24. The method as inclaim 23, further comprising receiving the SIP NOTIFY message at the UEthat subscribed to the first P-CSCF, and transmitting a SIP BYE messagefrom the UE that subscribed to the first P-CSCF towards the other UE.25. The method as in claim 24, further comprising releasing the dialogstate at the UE receiving the SIP BYE message.
 26. The method as inclaim 23, wherein releasing the dialog state at the remaining S-CSCFsand P-CSCFs comprises treating the second SIP NOTIFY message as a SIPBYE at each of the remaining S-CSCFs and P-CSCFs.
 27. The method as inclaim 15, further comprising subscribing a first P-CSCF associated witha non-compliant UE with a second P-CSCF associated with the other UE.28. The method as in claim 15, wherein the SIP session releasenotification comprises a SIP NOTIFY message including a state indicationidentifying a terminated state for the dialog, and further including asubscription state indication identifying a terminated subscription. 29.A Serving Call Session Control Function (S-CSCF) operable in an IPMultimedia core network Subsystem (IMS), wherein the IMS includes atleast a Proxy Call Session Control Function (P-CSCF) coupled tocommunicate with the S-CSCF, the S-CSCF comprising: a processor; arelease recognition module operable with the processor to determinewhether a session should be released at the S-CSCF; a subscriptionmanagement module operable with the processor to receive a subscriptionto a session release notification from the P-CSCF, wherein the sessionrelease notification includes a directive for the P-CSCF to release thesession at the P-CSCF; and a notification module operable with theprocessor to generate the session release notification for transmissionto the P-CSCF in response to the session being released at the S-CSCF.30. The S-CSCF as in claim 29, further comprising a notificationmanagement module operable with the processor to receive second sessionrelease notifications originating at other S-CSCFs or P-CSCFs associatedwith the session, to parse the second session release notifications, andto identify an indication to release the session at the S-CSCF.
 31. TheS-CSCF as in claim 30, further comprising a session termination moduleoperable with the processor to receive the indication to release thesession at the S-CSCF, and in response, to release the session at theS-CSCF.
 32. The S-CSCF as in claim 29, wherein the session releasenotification further includes a second directive for the P-CSCF toterminate the subscription.
 33. A Proxy Call Session Control Functions(P-CSCF) operable in an IP Multimedia core network Subsystem (IMS),wherein the IMS includes at least a Serving Call Session ControlFunctions (S-CSCF) coupled to communicate with the P-CSCF, the P-CSCFcomprising: a processor; a release recognition module operable with theprocessor to determine whether a session should be released at theP-CSCF; a subscription management module operable with the processor toreceive a subscription to a session release notification from a UserEquipment (UE), wherein the session release notification includes adirective for the UE to release the session at the UE; and anotification module operable with the processor to generate the sessionrelease notification for transmission to the UE in response to thesession being released at the P-CSCF.
 34. The P-CSCF as in claim 33,further comprising a subscription module operable with the processor toissue to the S-CSCF a subscription request for session releasenotifications originating at the S-CSCF.
 35. The P-CSCF as in claim 34,further comprising a notification management module operable with theprocessor to receive and parse the session release notificationsoriginating at the S-CSCF, and to identify an indication to release thesession at the P-CSCF.
 36. The P-CSCF as in claim 35, further comprisinga session termination module operable with the processor to receive theindication to release the session at the P-CSCF, and in response, torelease the session at the P-CSCF.
 37. The P-CSCF as in claim 33,wherein the session release notification further includes a seconddirective for the UE to terminate the subscription.
 38. A system forcommunicating over an IP Multimedia core network Subsystem (IMS),comprising: first and second User Equipments (UE) configured to engagein a dialog over the IMS; a plurality of Call Session Control Functions(CSCF) associated with the IMS, comprising first and second ServingCSCFs (S-CSCF) and first and second Proxy CSCFs (P-CSCF); wherein: thefirst and second P-CSCFs serve as first points of communication withinthe IMS for the first and second UEs respectively, and are coupled tocommunicate with at least the first and second S-CSCFs respectively; thefirst and second P-CSCFs are configured to subscribe to the first andsecond S-CSCFs respectively, and the first and second UEs are configuredto subscribe to the second and first P-CSCFs respectively; each of theCSCFs comprise a release recognition module configured to identify arelease of the dialog, and a notification module to generate a releasenotification for transmission towards its respective subscriber; andeach of the UEs and CSCFs comprise a session release module configuredto release the dialog in response to receiving the release notification.39. The system as in claim 38, wherein each of the first and second UEsis further configured to initiate a second release notification fortransmission towards the other one of the first and second UEs torelease the dialog, in response to receiving the release notificationoriginating at one of the CSCFs.
 40. A first network entity operable ina signaling network, wherein the signaling network includes at least asecond network entity coupled to communicate with the first networkentity, the first network entity comprising: a processor; a releaserecognition module operable with the processor to determine whether asession should be released at the first network entity; a subscriptionmanagement module operable with the processor to receive a subscriptionto a session release notification from the second network entity,wherein the session release notification includes a directive for thesecond network entity to release the session at the second networkentity; and a notification module operable with the processor togenerate the session release notification for transmission to the secondnetwork entity in response to the session being released at the firstnetwork entity.
 41. A computer-readable medium having instructionsstored thereon which are executable by a Call Session Control Function(CSCF) computer system for releasing a dialog established over an IPMultimedia core network Subsystem (IMS), the instructions executable bythe CSCF computer system for performing steps comprising: determiningwhether a session should be released at the CSCF; accepting asubscription to a session release notification from a User Equipment(UE), wherein the session release notification includes a directive forthe UE to release the session at the UE; and generating the sessionrelease notification for transmission to the UE in response to thesession being released at the CSCF.
 42. The computer-readable medium asin claim 41, wherein the instructions executable by the CSCF computersystem further comprises instructions for performing steps comprising:parsing second session release notifications received from a second CSCFassociated with the session, and in response identifying an indicationto release the session at the CSCF; and releasing the session at theCSCF if the indication to release the session at the CSCF is identified.43. The computer-readable medium as in claim 41, wherein theinstructions executable by the CSCF computer system further comprisesinstructions for performing steps comprising issuing a subscriptionrequest to a second CSCF associated with the session, wherein thesubscription request comprises a request for session releasenotifications originating at the second CSCF associated with thesession.